Dead in the Water
by Makoto Sagara
Summary: Quatre always knew he was different from those around him, even in a world coming to grips with the revelations of both vampires and shifters. When his best friend takes him to a vampire bar before winter break, he learns just how different. Add to that the fact that the vampires find him irresistible and an impossible new love interest, and his life couldn't get any stranger.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Dead in the Water**  
Author: **Makoto Sagara**  
Series: **Gundam Wing/Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse Novels) **  
Archive:** the usual suspects; anywhere else, please ask first**  
Category:** Supernatural, Angst, Romance, Slash, Action, Adventure  
**Pairings/Characters:** Eric/Sookie, Duo/Wufei, Quatre + Heero, Trowa/Zechs, Relena + Heero, Dorothy/Quatre, Treize/Pam, Pam/Dorothy, others…**  
Rating:** R (Later chapters may be more)**  
Warnings:** slash, femme slash, het, blood, gore, non-con (rape), magic, vampires, shape shifters, violence, angst, language, OOC, AU/Fusion, crossover, sexual situations**  
Disclaimers:** I make no money, so suing is pointless. If you think I own GW or the SVM universe, then you need to see someone. I have the number to a nice doctor... Oh, SALLY!

**Author's Notes:** Omg, so, I've wanted to write this for months now. It started because a friend I have is working on a GW/AB:VH crossover. It's very good, and even though I haven't read the AB books, I could follow the plot for the most part because I am such a huge Sookie/SVM fan! And then, I couldn't get the thought of Sookie and Quatre meeting out of my head. Hence the birth of this. I'll have you know that I started this chapter the SECOND that I finished my long-standing project, The Matchmaker. Thanks to Yuki and Jokes for their help and encouragement! It means the world to me to have you two in my corner, pushing and prodding the muses along for your amusement!

**Chapter One, or How My Life Grew Even More Complicated Than Ever!**

"Duo, if you don't clean up these candles and cards, I'm never buying you any of that Frankincense from Rashid you like so much," I yelled down the hall to the common room as I looked around our trashed dorm room. Before I could blink, a man my own age, barely nineteen, with a metre-and-half chestnut braid pushed me out of the doorway.

"Sorry about this, Q," my roommate shouted over his shoulder. "'Fei and I were doing readings, but Josh down the hall asked for help with his Biology assignment."

"That's fine, Duo, but if you and Wufei make a mess like this, you should at least clean it up before you leave the room," I said, feeling so tired after a long day of classes. My roommate, Duo Maxwell, hurriedly picked up his things and tossed them on his bed before dashing out down the hall to go do classwork with his boyfriend and another resident of our hall.

Maybe I should start from the beginning. First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner, of the Boston, Massachusetts Winners. I am the only son of Marianne Winner and Mohammed Baruq Amir Kashim. I have five older sisters — Iria, Fatima, Salima, Marwa, and Zamira. My father is an immigrant from Saudi Arabia, if you could not tell by the name, and my deceased mother is American-born.

I come from rather prominent families on both sides. My father is a third cousin to the current Saudi king and my mother's family runs the shipyards in Boston's South Side. Therefore, to say that I come from money would be a bit of an understatement. Duo claims that my family is filthy rich and the money just wafts off me like a bad odor. I'm terribly afraid that he might be right.

I just turned nineteen on July fourteenth, and I'm a sophomore at Columbia University in New York City. I have blond hair and blue eyes that I get from my mother. I am the only one. My sisters all have variations of a reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. I'm five feet, eleven inches.

And I'm telepathic and empathic. Growing up in a large family like mine was difficult as a child with my abilities. I could tell when my father was lying to my sisters and me about showing up for whatever activities we had or if my sisters were angry at me for stealing all of our father's extremely limited time at home.

And, if it wasn't enough that I'm what Duo likes to call "normal impaired" already, I've just come to terms with the fact that I'm a homosexual. Nothing special, right? Well, normally, no, it wouldn't be cause for such an upfront declaration like that, but then again, I have a hateful family.

My mother's side of the family is full of all die-hard Catholics. Fags burn in hell, right? And my father is an actively practicing Muslim. Five times a day, every day and seven times on Fridays, he praises Allah for being merciful and just. So long as I don't tell him that his only son and heir is a raging homosexual.

In fact, the only ones in my family that know my secret are my oldest sister Iria and her husband Malik. Since my mother died when I was three of breast cancer, Iria was forced to take care of me. She's the nicest out of my sisters and the only one who believed me when I said that I could read her thoughts. She's fifteen years older than me, and she married Malik when I was seven. When my father was out of town, which happened a lot, they took care of me, instead of the hordes of nannies and governesses and such that all of my sisters' friends had growing up.

It was Iria who convinced our father that sending me to school with my "ability" was a bad idea. Not many people enjoyed a precocious, nearly cherubic child telling them that the thoughts they were having about the gardener were nasty. After the tenth time in first grade that happened, Father caved and had me home schooled with very expensive tutors that overlooked my differentness for a _lot_ of money.

I still did all the normal thing that any rich kid is supposed to do — soccer, field hockey, martial arts, piano and violin lessons, and trips to art museums all over the world.

Let me tell you this, though. Flying in first class does _not_ make hearing the flight attendants checking out your dad because he's obviously loaded any easier. It's not like blocking my ears stops me from hearing their thoughts either. In fact, it just makes it harder to concentrate on what it is that I'm trying to do otherwise.

However, things on that front got a lot easier. When I was sixteen, Iria met a very interesting woman who said she was a witch. At first, I wanted to laugh at my beautiful sister bringing a crazy woman into Father's house, spouting off about spells and energy levels and the like. I teased them both, of course I did, but I had to quickly change my tune when the woman began burning herbs in a bowl and the next thing I knew, the world was a bit dimmer. It was if all the thoughts in my head were finally mine and mine alone. The small, thrumming headache that I'd had for most of my life was gone for the first time.

The woman, who I came to know intimately, was named Sharona, like that horrible 80's song. Every three weeks, Sharona and Iria would come over to the house to chat and Sharona would recast her spell to make sure that I could function.

When it continued to work after two months, I was finally able to go to a private academy to finish up my precollege education. I graduated as valedictorian, because nothing less was going to be acceptable to Mohammed Kashim. And I took a friend from my field hockey team's younger sister to my senior prom. She was cute, in that stick-thin, overly done sort of way, but she really did absolutely nothing for me. I took her to a French restaurant for dinner, then the dance, and we went to a few of the after parties, where everyone but me drank too much and engaged in sexual behaviours. I spent a lot of time bored out of my mind and checking out my date's brother's ass. It was then that I knew that I was gay.

I was horrified and didn't bother to take my date home, which was just as well, since she was riding the cock of another member of my field hockey team for everyone to see when I had my revelation. I ran from the house and into my car, driving like a madman to Iria and Malik's house. When I got there, I pounded on their door until my brother-in-law answered it, his gun in hand. One look at my face was enough for him to call for Iria and steer me into the kitchen for some strong mint tea.

It was then that I spilled my guts to the two people who meant the world to me, dreading their reaction but needing to get it out. I was surprised when Malik just shrugged and shoved the tea cup closer. "I figured, little brother," was all he said. And just like that, I had their support.

"Quatre, sweetheart, you're different from everyone else," Iria had said, patting my hand the way I loved. "We've known that for a very long time. This is just another aspect of how different you are." Her brown eyes were so sad that I thought she was going to cry, and I knew that if she started, I would too.

"What do I do, Iria?" I begged.

"Nothing," Malik answered, sitting down in the chair beside me. "Quatre, you will soon go to college, yes?"

"Yes," I replied, wondering where he was going with this. "I start Columbia in the fall. You know that. You're the one who helped me fill out all the applications, Malik."

"What my husband is trying to say, and failing, by the way, is that you don't have to _do_ anything about discovering your sexual identity," my sister said with a slight glare to her other half. "You will be in New York City. You can do as you wish, so long as you get good enough grades for Father. I just hope that you will meet some nice boy that makes you happy."

"Why? So I can bring him home for winter break to introduce him to my family? Right, one look at Zamira and Abdul will have him running for his life."

"One step at a time, little brother," Malik said with a smile. "Although, you may have a point about Zamira and Abdul; they remind me of terrorists to the nth degree. Even my parents think so, and you know how they are about those stupid assumptions Americans have."

"Yes, well, why my sister decided to marry an Afghani doctor who is very, very traditional, I will never know," Iria said seriously. "That's not the point here. The point is that whatever you decide for yourself, Quatre, we will support you. Sharona's already looking into someone in the New York area for you to contact about the spell she uses on you."

"Thank you," I whispered, feeling the relief and exhaustion of a long day taking over me.

"Let's get you into the guest room and we can deal with other things later in the day," Malik said, pulling me up by my arm and towards my usual room when I crashed at their house.

The summer passed, and before I knew it, I was in New York City, starting my life independently of my father and sisters. Here, no one expected me to be Quatre Winner, heir to Winner Enterprises Incorporated, or the son of Mohammed Kashim and Marianne Winner. No, at Columbia, I was just some regular rich, gay kid starting college. It was a relief that lasted all of five seconds before I met my new roommate.

He was six-foot, three inches with the body of a dancer and a thick braid of hair that brushed his tight ass. He wore pants that were practically painted onto his toned legs and a mid-shirt that exposed his washboard abs and delightful biceps. When he pulled down his sunglasses to get a better look at me, I could see that his eyes were an interesting shade of violet-blue. His perfect cupid's-bow lips twisted into a sexy smile and he stuck out a calloused hand to me. "Hi, I'm Duo Maxwell."

"Q-Quatre Winner," I squeaked.

"Looks like we're roommates, Quatre. I'm from Miami. You?"

"Boston," I said, finally finding my voice. Even with Sharona's spell, I could read the excitement and buzzing energy from this man's thoughts _and_ emotions. He reminded me of those old commercials I saw as a child with the Energizer Bunny. "Are you a freshman too?"

"Yeah, I'm actually looking forward to orientation tomorrow, believe it or not," Duo said, and it made me realize that underneath that laidback Floridian accent was a smooth baritone that made my toes curl and my cock harden.

I was fucked. My new roommate was _gorgeous_, and I was having difficulty not bursting in my pants as I watched him move around the room.

After shaking my head, I realized that he was unpacking his belongings, and I even recognized some of the unusual things. "Do you have a coven?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Oh, yeah, I did back home," he said with an easy smile as he looked at me with his odd eyes. "I'm going to have to check out the scene before I can say that I have one here." He stared at me for a few heavy minutes. "You're not though. I mean, you're not normal, I can read that, but you're not a practitioner, are you?"

"Oh, no, I'm not," I said nervously. There was a hard glint in his eyes that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up in alarm. "I, uh, my oldest sister has a good friend who is, and she's helped me a lot in the last couple of years."

"Ah, that explains how you know then," he said, his smile back to being open and friendly. "That still doesn't answer as to why you're not normal. Well, no, I guess not. I get that rich boy vibe off of you. You are, aren't you?"

"Would you hold it against me?" I asked cautiously.

"Hell no," he said with a laugh. "So long as you don't mind me hitting you up for a loan once in a while."

I laughed at his banter, feeling the tension leave my body for the first time since walking through the door. True, he was good-looking, but he was easy to get along with. I already felt like we'd been friends for a long time. Hell, he was easier to talk to than the kids I went to school with.

That was a year and a half ago. Duo and I managed to make it through last year fine. We only argued about the fact that he's a human hurricane and he calls me an uptight neat-freak. We each have our own valid points, but in the end we get along. I was relieved when he just came out and told me that he was gay, even though I _kind of_ figured it out by his outrageous attire. He seemed even more relieved when I told him I was as well. He also found it absolutely hilarious when I explained to him just how "not normal" I really was. He kept asking me to tell him what everyone around us was thinking, for kicks he said. When I got him in touch with Sharona, she was only too happy to direct him to one of the few covens in Manhattan, so long as he made sure that I had the spell cast on me every three weeks.

He has been great about that while we're here.

Since we were two gay guys trying to find our way around the city, we ended up hanging out a _lot_. He introduced me to alcohol. I introduced him to good Middle Eastern food. We stumbled around the gay bars and experimented flirting with strangers. (Duo is much better at that, by the way.) And, one night, after too many appletinis and vodka shots, we stumbled into bed with each other. It was my first sexual experience. It wasn't for him. He was great. It was fun. I'd never felt more relaxed and carefree in my life until he'd collapsed on my back after pounding me into his mattress. However, we both knew it wouldn't happen again. It felt like having sex with my brother or cousin. It was just _really _wrong.

So, when Duo met Wufei in his spring term Biology class and they started dating, I didn't feel bad. In fact, I was pretty happy for my friend. Wufei is about five-foot-nine, martial artist lean, sexy brown-black eyes, and pin-straight black hair that falls to his shoulders. He's as funny as Duo, but his sense of humour tends to lean more towards acerbic, while Duo's is clownish. He's incredibly brilliant, considering he's Pre-Med. And he's a native New Yorker, Staten Island to be exact. And, it turns out that Wufei is a member of the local coven Sharona suggested to Duo when they talked.

They try to include me in their adventures every once in a while, but it's really awkward feeling like a third wheel to your best friend and his boyfriend. Sometimes when we go out, I end up being hit on by guys who are more butch than I am with dark brown or black hair and blue eyes. What can I say? I have a type now, Duo assures me. I do happen to like that combination. It's very sexy.

I was worried about returning this year, since Duo had talked about possibly moving in with Wufei, and I didn't want to have to share a room with some stupid homophobic idiot. I got lucky when the room assignments were mailed to our homes and saw that Duo and I would be rooming together again. Turns out that Wufei's parents wanted him to stay with them while he still attended school and save his money. And unlike how most of his friends' parents from his neighborhood acted, they didn't freak out when he crashed at our dorm for the night from time to time instead of commuting all the way back and forth to Staten Island.

I have realized the pure and utter joy of a good set of Bose headphones, however. Duo, I've learned, is a screamer, and Wufei prefers it that way.

Like I said, we three got along great, even with them knowing about my secrets and trying their hardest not to make me feel left out. But, it was when Duo approached Wufei about going out to a new place for his upcoming birthday that my whole life changed.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Dead in the Water**  
Author: **Makoto Sagara**  
Series: **Gundam Wing/Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse Novels) **  
Archive:** the usual suspects; anywhere else, please ask first**  
Category:** Supernatural, Angst, Romance, Slash, Action, Adventure  
**Pairings/Characters:** Eric/Sookie, Duo/Wufei, Quatre + Heero, Trowa/Zechs, Relena + Heero, Dorothy/Quatre, Treize/Pam, Pam/Dorothy, others…**  
Rating:** R (Later chapters may be more)**  
Warnings:** slash, femme slash, het, blood, gore, non-con (rape), magic, vampires, shape shifters, violence, angst, language, OOC, AU/Fusion, crossover, sexual situations**  
Disclaimers:** I make no money, so suing is pointless. If you think I own GW or the SVM universe, then you need to see someone. I have the number to a nice doctor... Oh, SALLY!

**Author's Notes:** I know that last chapter didn't talk about the vampires/shifters/weres/fairies that are running around the Sookie'verse, but I'll get to that. In fact, this chapter's going to get into the whole vampire/shifter world. I just had to put some background information about our main character in. And, yes, this entire story will be told from Quatre's point of view, just like a Sookie book! P.S. Anyone here who's played The Sims 2: Nightlife will recognize the club name.

**Chapter Two, or Welcome to Crypt o' the Night**

When I was still being homeschooled with tutors, something momentous happened that shocked the world. The Japanese announced that they'd managed to manufacture synthetic blood that would completely replace the need for real blood in transfusions and such, cutting down on instances of communicable blood diseases.

Something unexpected came from that revelation though. Vampires came out of the coffin and let the world know that they were real and wanted to join us on equal footing. The world went nuts. So many countries, including the Middle East, declared the undead as kill on sight targets. Since that time, more accepting countries—like the U.S., Canada, Mexico, England, Japan, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries—had opened their ports to an influx of the previously alive. Of course, the party line that was being touted by vampires at large was that they were the victims of a virus that rendered them allergic to silver, garlic and sunlight. What's scary is how easy it was for people to buy that story.

But not everyone here in the U.S. was so accepting. Soon after the Great Vampire Revelation, a group of fanatics cropped up, claiming to be defenders of all that was "right and good" in the world. This group of disgusting human beings called themselves the Fellowship of the Sun. They were responsible for a strange raid on one of their "churches" down in Dallas, Texas and for a bombing of a hotel in Rhodes, Illinois that claimed the lives of many humans and vampires alike. Of course, they held all people who interacted with the undead just as culpable for the things that happened as the vampires themselves. And they had no problem killing those that they thought were _tainted_ by the "unnatural" and "ungodly." Needless to say that prejudice based on skin colour dropped off pretty quickly.

And last year, right before school let out for winter break, werewolves and shifters came out of their collective holes, setting off controversies that couldn't be ignored. It turned out that shifters preferred working blue-collared jobs—construction, hired muscle, repairmen and the like—and the armed service. And the many people who were children of shifters and weres in sports. Well, that just opened up a virtual Pandora's Box of trouble.

With my family the way it was, when Fatima's brother-in-law's wife turned out to be a werefox, she was cut off and her husband was strongly _encouraged_ to file for divorce. The family saw her withholding that information as a betrayal of the family trust and of the marriage contract. She and her children were kicked and I haven't heard what happened to them since then.

That incident just drove home the fact that I could never tell them exactly what was wrong with me. Anything different was just driven out of their sight, evidently, and I couldn't do that to my sisters, who so desperately wanted everything to be perfect. Besides the fact that all of them—aside from Iria—were silly creatures, they were good women who loved me as their only brother and heir to the family name.

To say that I was more than relieved to return to Columbia from my father's house and the hectic life I'd gained in New York City would have been a vast understatement. I was ecstatic when my cab reached the dorms I'd be sharing for another year with my best friend. The only thing that made it better was the knowledge that my father was going to Mecca around the time of the Id for his annual _haj_ and that meant that I could stay at Iria's house over winter break. Before that, however, I had to survive a night out with Duo and Wufei for the Chinese man's birthday.

"Come on, Quatre," Duo whined pathetically, his huge blue-violet eyes shining artfully. Sometimes, I wonder how a relationship between us would have fared, but then I hear Duo thinking about Wufei and give it up as a bad job. He really was completely besotted by the other man, and had no idea just how _well_ his thoughts broadcasted to me on a constant basis. Sometimes, I was even tempted to tell him that I could hear how much he thought about Wufei's cock, but I don't want to embarrass my other friend because of Duo's stupidity.

Right now, he was thinking that I should lighten up and stop letting what my family might find out keep me from having fun. What other kind of fun would there be when we could go to a vampire bar and get a good luck at America's newest citizens, in a relatively safe environment? I wanted to point out the flaw in his logic, but he was too excited for it to have made much of a difference, so I turned to his stoic lover and tried to find some backup in Wufei's unerring intelligence.

No such luck. Wufei was so willing to do whatever Duo wanted, since this would be the first birthday celebration that either of them would be able to spend together that he would have walked through the fires of Hell to make Duo happy.

Seriously, they make me sick.

But it was Duo's overwhelming desire to make sure that _I_ enjoyed myself that stopped me from refusing outright. There were only three other people in my entire life who had ever bothered to try and make me happy and it stunned me a bit to see that Duo—and Wufei to a certain extent—was another I could add to that list. Knowing that I'd lost the moment his thoughts popped into my head I let out a huge sigh. "Fine, yeah, I'll go."

"AWESOME!" Duo wrapped me up in a huge hug before turning to Wufei with a whoop of joy. "I knew he'd see reason!"

"It's less like reason, Duo, and more like giving in to make you stop whining," Wufei said with a wry twist to his lips. "Not that I blame him. When you're set on something that you really want, you have a habit of making a nuisance of yourself." _Not that it's ever stopped you before,_ he thought fondly.

"That hurt, 'Fei," Duo said with a dramatic clutch of his shirt over his heart. "But, it still doesn't negate the fact that he caved and that we're going to Crypt o' the Night tonight."

"Only you would be so excited to meet with beings that could kill you without really any thought," I said, looking through my closet for something to wear to a vampire bar. My normal khakis and button-down Oxford shirts were definitely out, as were the club clothes that Duo had managed to convince me I needed for our usual bar-hopping. I didn't have a tuxedo, and even if I had, I don't think I would be wearing it to a _bar_ of all places. "What in the hell am I supposed to wear to this place?"

Duo pushed passed me to stare at my clothes. "I'll find you something," he muttered, shoving my day-to-day wear out of his way. He let out a triumphant shout and tossed a pair of black snakeskin pants in my general direction. "See if those fit."

"They do, but you can count every pubic hair I have when I wear them," I shot back. I was a little annoyed that he thought I would have gained enough weight that would make it so I couldn't wear my (secretly) favourite pants. "I doubt that's the kind of signal I want to give to vampires, Duo."

"Not just vampires," Wufei added from Duo's bed. "I've heard the bar has both vamp and Were bouncers."

"Someone told me that they have a goblin bartender, although I find that hard to believe," my braided friend shouted from the closet, still looking for a shirt for me to wear. "I mean, wouldn't the goblin make a better bouncer than either Were or vamp? I mean, they throw _fireballs,_ for fuck's sake. "

"How do you expect me to know that?" I asked, giving up and taking off my pants to put on the ones Duo had picked out. After being friends with both men for so long, modesty was no longer an issue. If Wufei didn't want to see my bare skin and cock, he could just look away. "It's not as if I've had much interaction with supes before, you know. You, Sharona and Wufei are probably the only people that I actively _know_ are different from regular people."

"AH HA!" Duo shouted, tossing out a black mesh shirt that barely reached the bottom of my ribcage before pulling one of my white shirts as well. "You know, you've got so much money and I just keep forgetting that you spent a lot of your childhood trapped in your home before your sister found Sharona."

"Yes, well, it was quieter being trapped in my home," I said, ignoring the look of pity that flashed over Duo's face as I took the shirts from him to continue dressing. "I could actually concentrate, and by the time I really had some say in the matter, neither my father nor my mother's parents really wanted to discuss what made me so different from the other children my age. Iria's the only one who ever really _wanted_ to help me fit in, I think."

"Speaking of, are you still going to stay with her for winter break?" Duo asked, scrounging around in his own closet for clothes for him and Wufei to wear. "You know Uncle Howard keeps asking when I'm going to have you down so you can soak up some sun." He turned to look at his lover with a bright smile. "You too, 'Fei."

"I seriously doubt that my parents would approve of me taking a vacation to Miami when I could be at home, helping at the restaurant," Wufei said sadly.

"I'd pay, if that's the issue," I offered gently. I didn't want to offend my friend, but I also knew that the problem is that his parents would never pay for the trip. They didn't really care much for Duo the one time they met him.

Wufei stiffened in outrage before he allowed the way I said the words, and not the words themselves, to roll through his brain. He realized that I was being sincere without insult and shook his head. "It's not, but I thank you for the offer," he said with a brief smile.

Seriously, it was times like that that I could see why Duo was so crazy about Wufei. Aside from the fact that he was utterly gorgeous, even when he scowled, and insanely smart, his smile could power the whole of Manhattan when he chose to share it. It also made me intensely jealous of the fact that they had each other while I had no one and probably never would.

Sure, I'd tried to date outside of Duo, but it was so _hard_ to allow anyone to touch me when all the time they were thinking about how skinny I was, how my pale skin wasn't natural, how my ass wasn't big enough, or how my name was stupid. And that's when the twinks at the clubs didn't actively hate me and sabotaged any conversations I had with the men who fit my "type." Jealous bitches. So, truth be told, my only sexual encounter was with my best friend. It was a depressing thought.

"Hey, Q, let me do your face tonight," Duo whispered with a devilish smile.

With a sad nod, I let Duo apply some of the rare makeup that we used when we went out: concealer for the bags under my eyes, some soft mineral powder foundation that made my pale skin shine, some black eyeliner to make my blue eyes pop, followed by silver eye-shadow and mascara to darken my long, blond eyelashes. I looked in the mirror and realized that if my hair was longer, I could probably pass as a girl. Everything about me was soft, even my high cheekbones, and I gave off an air of vulnerability that many twinks in the clubs tried to mimic and failed.

"Come along, gorgeous," Duo said with a grin as he wrapped one arm around my waist and the other around Wufei's. "Time to have some fun." Without another word, I let Duo drag me through Midtown to the hottest spot in New York.

I should have known when Duo tarted me up like some Goth twink that the night was _not_ going to go my way. At all. When we reached the club, there was a line that stretched around the very _long_ block to the corner and God knows where else. I shared a look of annoyance with Wufei, but we watched as Duo flounced—yes, he fucking FLOUNCED—up to the bouncer, a tall brunet who looked over at Wufei and me with a cold, green eye. The other was covered by his hair that was styled very emo-ish to obscure the rest of his face. I concentrated on him to try and pick up any signals, but all I got was like a scratchy static laced with warmth and aggression. "He's not human, Wufei," I whispered.

The Chinese man at my side gave me a grim smile. "He's a Were, more than likely a werewolf if he's working security."

"But I thought they worked in packs?"

"Could be a rogue or a lone wolf, since Weres and vamps don't normally hang out like this."

"I can't really hear his thoughts," I said, feeling awed for the sheer lack of tangible thoughts from the mysterious were at the door of the club.

"What do you mean?" Wufei's black eyes were wide with curiosity.

I took a minute to see how much I should go into it when I explained myself to Wufei. It's not that he didn't out and out _know_ about what I can do, but he and Duo hadn't really asked me any questions. They'd just accepted it and moved on. I realized then what a disadvantage I really had made for myself with my friends. I took a deep breath and started trying to explain to the best of my abilities.

"Alright, generally, there are two types of thoughts people have. Some people are terrific broadcasters, like a great satellite signal—thoughts, images, whatever—come through perfectly. Then, you have others, like you and Duo who are mostly images and abstract thoughts. It takes a bit more for me to get what you're thinking, unless you're thinking it specifically at me or concentrating on it for any reason."

"That makes…some sense, I suppose," Wufei said as he began to process what I was telling him. Yes, I could tell I'd confused him a bit, but he understood more than I thought he would. I did say that he was smart, right?

"Well, evidently, there's now a third type that I didn't really know about, since I've never been around a supe that wasn't 100% human. I can't read the were's thoughts. He's like a static-y station that I can't quite tune into. His emotions are pretty strong though. He's broadcasting those like a human antenna. I think we'd better go over there before he snaps at Duo."

Neither of us said anything as we walked up to our braided friend's side. The bouncer stared at us dismissively before I caught a flash of interest and he turned to face me again. "You," he said calmly before leaning in to sniff me. "You're not a human."

I blinked in shock. Really, I mean, I _know_ I'm different, but it's not really fair of him to tell me I'm not human because of it. "Excuse me," I said coolly, mimicking a tone I'd heard my father use with business associates that had called him a stupid Arab. "I don't think you're one to talk about being human or not."

I saw a corner of his full lips twitch up in a smile. "You're right. You and your friends can come in." He stood to the side and let us all into the club, much to the anger and dismay of the rest of the crowd that had been waiting before we got there.

As soon as we'd cleared the threshold, the door snapped behind us and we were allowed to see the interior of the infamous Crypt o' the Night. I was expecting the décor to be cheesy Goth, because, I mean, really, we're talking about vampires here. Instead, it was done in tasteful shades of brown and black, with just the slightest hints of purple, red, and whites from the strobe lights.

I could feel the human brains buzzing with activity, but I noticed that there were more weres on the inside—all of whom had that same staticy buzz to their minds. There were negative spots though and those had me intrigued more than anything else. "Can you read the vampires?" Wufei asked. I blinked and realized that those were what the negative spots were and shook my head. "Do you want to meet one?"

"No, I just want a drink and a place to sit down," I replied over the swell of the music, some sort of hip-hop that I had no interest in. Wufei nodded and allowed Duo to drag him over to the bar while I started searching for a table or booth we could sit at. I noticed a table with only a cold-looking blonde woman, and it took me a minute to realize that she was actually a vampire. Intrigued, I walked up to her, trying to reach out to her mind, and finding nothing but a wall of silence. It was Heaven. "Hello, I'm Quatre," I said calmly, trying to tamper down my excitement at having met someone who didn't make _any _noise with their thoughts.

"Charmed, I'm sure," the woman said. She looked as if she hadn't been much older than me when she died, maybe seventeen or eighteen at the most, with pale blonde hair that reached her waist—which was tiny, in her miniscule sundress of sky blue that matched her eyes—and eyebrows that forked upwards in some odd fashion and were a strange grey color. She pulled away coldly and made to walked away from the table. She had only taken two steps before she whirled around and stared at me intently. "What are you?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Dead in the Water**  
Author: **Makoto Sagara**  
Series: **Gundam Wing/Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse Novels) **  
Archive:** the usual suspects; anywhere else, please ask first**  
Category:** Supernatural, Angst, Romance, Slash, Action, Adventure  
**Pairings/Characters:** Eric/Sookie, Duo/Wufei, Quatre + Heero, Trowa/Zechs, Relena + Heero, Dorothy/Quatre, Treize/Pam, Pam/Dorothy, others…**  
Rating:** R (Later chapters may be more)**  
Warnings:** slash, femme slash, het, blood, gore, non-con (rape), magic, vampires, shape shifters, violence, angst, language, OOC, AU/Fusion, crossover, sexual situations**  
Disclaimers:** I make no money, so suing is pointless. If you think I own GW or the SVM universe, then you need to see someone. I have the number to a nice doctor... Oh, SALLY!

**Author's Notes:** Now that I've let some background information be soaked into your brains, I'm going to attempt to move the plot along. Yay, right? And for those who are curious, I see this club as a mixture of Fangtasia and Club Dead (Josephine's) in Jackson that Alcide takes Sookie too in Book Three. So, kinda like an exclusive Supe bar that lets in regular humans in small doses. No repelling magic. Thanks to Yuki for Dermail's first name!

**Chapter Three, or What Are You?**

I stared at the blonde vampire in front of me and blinked slowly. What was I? Um, I was pretty sure that that was a big obvious one, but it wasn't like I could actually _read_ what the vampire thought to clarify her question. I did try to figure out how she was feeling, and I got a backlash of excitement, hunger, lust, and confusion. That combination didn't really sit very well with me, and I took a cautious step back.

I was praying that the vampire would remember that public feeding was against the law, but an iron-clad grip on my wrist kept me from going any farther. I looked down into the petite vampire's cold blue eyes and stifled the urge to whimper. She was squeezing my arm as if she was seconds from ripping it out of the socket and her fangs had slipped down while her eyes glazed over. "What are you, little creature?" she purred.

"A telepath," I whispered, half-fearing that this crazy undead person was going to maim me.

She leaned in close with a lazy smile and inhaled deeply. "No, you are more than that," she replied, practically nuzzling her head in the crook of my neck.

"Hey, Q, who's your friend?" Duo's familiar voice called. Relief washed through me as he and Wufei walked up to where I was being held captive by this insane vampire. "I didn't think you played for that team."

The vampire's blonde head snapped up and she hissed at my friends. "Witches," she snarled. "You stink of magic."

I watched as my Chinese friend frowned and sniffed loudly at the female holding me in a bruising grasp. "You don't smell so wonderful yourself," Wufei said dryly. "You might want to watch how you hold Quatre. He breaks more easily than you do."

"These filthy witches belong to you, little telepath?" Her hold on my wrist loosened, but I could tell that she could tighten it before I managed to break away from her, so I nodded slowly. "Well, I suppose that makes them a _little_ interesting."

"Dorothy," a rich, smooth voice called. I looked up to see a _tall_, handsome vampire approaching us. He had perfectly coiffed ginger hair and the most piercing blue eyes I'd ever see. "What do you have here? Normally you are so standoffish with the tourists and bar patrons." His eyes widened as he took a deep breath. "Witches and…" He leaned in close to me as if to become more familiar with my scent. "And this one is part fae. How interesting."

Dorothy—or so her friend called her—sneered at the new being in front of her. "Treize, this one is mine. Take one of his witches. I don't care what happens to them."

The red-haired vampire's gaze grew cold as he stared at the one still wrapped around me possessively. "You have no rights to claim a mortal here," he deadpanned. "You will all follow me to the Duke."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~~~~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

I learned then and there that you don't refuse a vampire's commands. As Duo opened his mouth to protest, Wufei shook his head and signaled for the taller man to show us the way to this Duke he'd mentioned. I didn't want to go, but if Wufei was listening so closely to how the vampires spoke to one another, I would follow his example. Besides, it's kind of hard to ignore _"Don't say anything, Quatre. Just go along with this for now. Duo and I will try to get us all out of here safely," _being screamed at me specifically followed by a long string of cursing in what I could only assume was some form of Chinese.

I couldn't identify it and I swore to myself that if we got out of here alive, I was going to learn both Mandarin and Cantonese and then demand that my father do the same as well. I was a little surprised that he hadn't insisted that we both learn it because of how much business he did with the Chinese, but after this, oh, yes, we were going to learn both dialects. I could probably state that it was for the future of business. He didn't need to know that I wanted to know _exactly_ what my Chinese friend was saying when he cursed privately.

Our group was led to a pair of doors at the very back of the club that were guarded by a very still vampire and a bored looking man who had the same brain pattern as the bouncer. God, it felt like a lifetime ago that I'd exchanged words with the Were—I had plucked that little bit of information from the bouncer's tangled mind as we passed him, along with the image of a larger than normal wolf with fur the same reddish-brown shade as his hair. I ignored the vampire, since he didn't seem to snap to attention as our group approached. However, something told me that all it took was for him to lash out with one of his pale arms and I'd be a dead pile of blood and gore on the floor. It was the shape-shifter that had my attention.

He was tall and lean. His dark brown hair was tousled sexily, as if he'd just gotten out of bed or just engaged in marathon sex. I had to seriously stop myself from trying to reach out and feel just how soft his hair was. His hair might have been intriguing, but it was his cobalt-blue eyes that made the breath catch in my throat. His face was just as impassive as the vampire's at his side, but those eyes could have set the whole of New York City on fire, and I would have been happy to dance in the flames. He was _abso-freaking-lutely _gorgeous, to quote Duo.

"Step aside, filth," Dorothy snarled at the sexy shifter, who only shot her a look that had my insides melting. Sadly, it seemed she'd picked up on my lust, because she then turned those cold, ice-blue eyes on me. "You like the way the Were looks? He is scum, lower than even your little witches. You are _mine._" She leaned in so close to my face and I realized that she was attempting to use her glamour on me.

I didn't feel any different, nor was I compelled to follow her orders by anything other than fear for my life. I blinked at her and tried to take my arm out of her grasp. "I don't belong to anyone," I said, feeling confident for the first time since she'd turned back to stare at me. "Besides, I don't even like women."

The shifter chuckled while Duo and Wufei actually had the balls to laugh. Evidently, that wasn't the smartest thing to do because in the next moment, four other vampires were surrounding our group, all cold-looking and expressionless. "Dorothy, it looks like your new toy won't work for you," the shifter said, acting as if it was just the three of us there, instead of a rather suspicious looking crowd.

"Shut it, Heero, or shall I find Relena for you?" the blonde snapped. "I'm sure she'd be very happy to find out that you were asking after her."

"Your pathetic little fox isn't here tonight, Dorothy. I can only assume that's why you decided to manhandle this poor human male."

The forgotten, tall redheaded vampire that Dorothy had called Treize snarled at the two sniping at each other. "Heero, move out of the way, or you could find yourself suddenly seeking employment elsewhere," he snapped and the shape shifter nodded before stepping back. "Dorothy, shut up and stop baiting the help, or Grandfather will have something to say about it."

"Fine," the blonde said, going back to trying to wrap her body around my arm. Who would have thought that vampires were so touchy-feely? Although, I did take a look around at the others surrounding us, and realized that it might not be so wide spread, if their expressions of disgust were anything to go by.

The doors we'd been standing in front of _finally _opened, and I heard Duo whistle in appreciation. _These vamps make such shitty hosts, but they certainly know how to live. And what about that shape shifter guard, huh?_

Seriously, sometimes, I hated my best friend.

"Grandfather," Treize said to the vampire sitting behind the opulent desk that took up about half of the room. It must have been made out of redwood because I've never seen any stained piece of furniture that same color, which made the thing _old_. Like two hundred-years-old _old_. It made me wonder just how _young_ my two new "friends" were, if they were calling this vampire grandfather.

And he looked old enough. Where Dorothy looked like she was just barely over the age of eighteen and Treize appeared to be in his mid-twenties, this man was in his late fifties when he died. And they all had those damn forked eyebrows. Only Treize made them look interesting instead of some sort of freakish genetic throwback. The Duke appeared to have been a bit of an indulger in his former life. Hello, overweight vampire! How nice to see you! All I could think of as I stared at him was that I really hoped that there weren't many more like him. Otherwise, everyone's preconceived notions about the undead were totally off the wall and _wrong_.

So, aside from the unearthly pale skin, he could have been anyone's grandfather, complete with sunspots and wrinkles. And I kept that thought with me until he smiled and his fangs were displayed for all to admire. There was a whimpering sound and I could feel a familiar and warm hand in my own. I looked down to see Duo's welcome tanned hand grasped in mine. I supposed then that the whimper came from me.

"Tell me, Dorothy," the old man said, and I noticed that his blue eyes were a shade somewhere between that of Treize and Dorothy. "Who is your adorable little friend with you?"

"Grandfather, this _human_ approached Dorothy at her table," Treize said calmly. "She appeared ready to ignore him until she walked passed him. Then, she seemed to not want to let him go. She has yet to do so." He pointed to Duo and Wufei. "These two witches are with him."

"So I see," was the reply. "Dorothy, release the human." When the blonde at my side opened her mouth, the older vampire's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Release him now. We will speak of this later."

"Yes, Grandfather," Dorothy said sullenly as she literally skulked back to a corner. I didn't think anyone did that in real life.

"Please, sit down," he said to me and my two friends. "I ask that you forgive my granddaughter. It isn't every day that a human can get her attention long enough since the Japanese allowed us to live amongst you so easily."

"She came on a little strong for my friend here," Duo said, squeezing the hand he still held. "We just came to check out the scene."

"Again, I ask you to forgive her. My name is Duke Octavius Dermail. Treize and Dorothy are my grandchildren from before I fell victim to this horrible virus. Sadly, they were victims themselves."

_Bullshit,_ Duo thought. _You're all undead bloodsuckers and no amount of spin you try to put on the situation is going to make it better. Might as well tell us what you're going to do to us, you fat fuck._ I shook his hand as I smothered the urge to laugh hysterically. I was definitely with Wufei about getting out of this situation _alive_ and _whole_. Something that was in jeopardy if we let Duo actually _say_ something like that.

"What my friend really means is that we're flattered that someone so obviously important as your granddaughter would take an interest in us," Wufei said calmly. I _envied_ his calm demeanor, but I could feel how terrified he was on the inside. "However, since we were out for my birthday, this kind of treatment was unexpected."

"Congratulations and felicitations then," Dermail responded. "I still have yet to learn your names."

"I am Chang Wufei. This is my lover, Duo Maxwell." Finally, all eyes in the room fell on me and I wished that I was anywhere—even back in Boston explaining to my father that I was a queer—than here. "And he is our good friend, Quatre Winner."

"Winner, you say?" Dermail's cold and calculating blue eyes pinned me to my chair and I had to stifle another whimper. "Are you, by chance, related to the Winners of Boston?" I nodded lamely. "I have dealt with your family then. Are you related to Marianne?"

"She was my mother," I answered softly, amazed that I sounded so calm when I wanted to run out of this room as quickly as I could.

"Yes, you look just like her," Dermail said. "You smell like her as well. Tell me, do your sisters look like her?"

I froze to my chair. This monster knew of my sisters, and I could feel his greed wafting from him like cheap cologne. I knew that I had to do something so he would stay as far away from my family as was possible. "No, they look more like our father and aunts."

"That's a shame. Well, Mr. Winner, I'd like for you to return here next weekend." It wasn't a request. I knew that and so did Duo and Wufei. "In fact, I would like to send you away with a friend of mine to make sure that you stay safe." His greed was actually making me nauseous, but I gave him a nervous smile and nodded. "Treize, call Heero in, would you?"

Oh, great, just what I needed. The walking wet dream was going to be assigned to make sure that no one touched me or that I didn't run back home to hide. Really, I was coming to dislike my life for whole new reasons.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Dead in the Water**  
Author: **Makoto Sagara**  
Series: **Gundam Wing/Southern Vampire Mysteries (Sookie Stackhouse Novels) **  
Archive:** the usual suspects; anywhere else, please ask first**  
Category:** Supernatural, Angst, Romance, Slash, Action, Fantasy, and Adventure  
**Pairings/Characters:** Eric/Sookie, Duo/Wufei, Quatre + Heero, Trowa/Zechs, Relena + Heero, Dorothy/Quatre, Treize/Pam, Pam/Dorothy, others…**  
Rating:** R (Later chapters may be more)**  
Warnings:** slash, femme slash, het, blood, gore, non-con (rape), magic, vampires, shape shifters, violence, angst, language, OOC, AU/Fusion, crossover, sexual situations**  
Disclaimers:** I make no money, so suing is pointless. If you think I own GW or the SVM universe, then you need to see someone. I have the number to a nice doctor... Oh, SALLY!

**Author's Notes:** The real story begins now. Enjoy!

**Chapter Four, or Vampires, Werewolves and Shape Shifters, Oh My!**

I hadn't realized that when Dermail ordered Heero to escort me back to my dorm room that it meant that the shifter wouldn't go away. Of course, that little bit of information wasn't given to me until he'd walked me right up to the door of the building and the RA was staring at him as if he was slime on the bottom of his shoe. "He doesn't belong here, Winner," the older man said before turning on his heel in the direction of his own room.

"He's right, Quatre," Wufei whispered. "I think that Grayson only puts up with me because he knows that _I_ am a student of the university."

"Yes, well, _I _don't think we have a choice about whether or not the shifter stays here, now do we?" I snapped as I looked between my friends and the sexy supe we were talking about.

"Listen," Heero said calmly. "I have my own place in Alphabet City. I don't need to stay here and get the three of you in any trouble."

"Alphabet City?" Duo asked incredulously. "Are you _insane_? That place is full of drug dealers and gangbangers!" _Not to mention that it's clear across town from here and would be way too dangerous for poor Q to come and visit you._

"I've lived there for a while now, little witch," Heero said with a smirk that made my knees feel like they were made out of water. "I can handle the trash that masquerade as my neighbors easily." The smirk faded as his cobalt-blue eyes landed on me again. "You _do_ understand that I am going to have to come back in the morning and keep close tabs on you until you return back to the club, right?"

"What happens if I leave town and go into hiding?" I asked quietly.

"You heard Dermail. He knows who you are and where your family lives." His eyes softened. "You don't want anything to happen to your family, little telepath." One of his big, warm hands landed on my arm. "I'll be back in the morning and I'll stay out of your way if I can."

_But I don't_ want _you to stay away, Heero,_ I thought as my body reacted predictably to the other man's burning touch. If he'd asked me then and there to drop to my knees and suck his cock, I think I really would have, Duo and Wufei be damned. However, he removed his hand and I was forced back into reality. "Okay, my first class is at ten."

"I'll be here by nine," Heero said. He turned to my two friends and his face fell. "I don't have to tell you that you can't talk about what you saw tonight, do I?" Wufei shook his head and clapped his hand over Duo's mouth before he could speak.

_I don't have to talk to anyone about what happened, but I sure as _hell_ can make those stupid fucking vampires pay for fucking with my friend,_ Duo thought nastily, his eyes reflecting his opinion quite clearly. _And if you so much as _try_ to hurt my friend, you won't have to worry about your "time of the month" because I'll make it so you stick in whatever animal you shift into, fucker._

Did I mention that Duo's favourite word is "fuck"? Sometimes I wondered if there were any other words in his vocabulary.

"It seems your little witch friend there is ready to kill and die for you, telepath," the shifter said with a delicious smirk. "I'd keep him close if you want to live."

"You don't have to tell me that," I said, suddenly and completely grateful for having my odd brand of luck that landed me with Duo as my roommate the year before. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"That you will," the shifter said with a slight leer before leaving me and my friends in front of our dorm hall.

As soon as he was gone, I felt like I could finally breathe again. His presence had made the air feel thinner and my head swam _way_ too much. Duo eyed me as I shook my head to clear it. I was glad that neither of my friends said anything as we slowly made our way through the semi-quiet halls—it was well after two a.m. by then—back to our darkened room. The silence continued as we three all got ready for bed, and before either Duo or Wufei could say something to me as I prepared to fall asleep, I drowned them out with my headphones and Shakira at a volume determined to blow out my poor eardrums.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~~~~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Morning came way too early, as it always does when I'm tired and unhappy. My alarm went off at eight-thirty, like usual, and the night before came crashing back to me. I was having trouble deciding whether I was looking forward to seeing Heero here again or if I just wanted to go back to sleep, perhaps permanently. However, I knew that trying to bury my head in the proverbial sand would only spell trouble for me and those I loved, so I had to get up and function.

I spared a look over at Duo's side of the room to see that he and Wufei were already gone. I knew that my Chinese friend had an eight o'clock class, but Duo's absence was a little strange, since his first class wasn't until noon on most days—eleven on Tuesdays and Thursdays because he had a lab. Since it was Friday, I figured he wanted to make himself scarce since Heero was supposed to show up.

Slowly, I made my way to the communal shower and took care of my morning ablutions. Just because I was going to have company before I wanted didn't give me an excuse to smell like something the dog dragged in, regardless of how I actually felt or looked. Aren't I hilarious?

Although, I _was_ curious as to what Heero shifted into on the full moon. Could he shift whenever he wanted? That would be kinda cool, the power to change into an animal when the mood hit me. The only thing I could do was read everyone's thoughts. And trust me, hearing the guy at the spot next to me trying to decide if I was hot and if that made him gay or not was just not _on_ before my first coffee.

"I think you checking out my ass means you're a little less than straight, Jesse," I said as I gathered my things to head back to my room. I ignored the shouts and curses my dorm mate threw at my back. His sexuality wasn't really my problem.

I was glad that I remembered my robe that morning as I saw Heero propped outside my door. "Sorry, I didn't know where you were, and I wasn't going to wait in your room," he said as he stood up straight. "Duo let me into the building. Said the RA was at a class and that no one else would care."

"Oh," I replied softly. Really, I'm so eloquent that I should consider public speaking. "Um, I, uh, need to get changed, but I have a finance class at ten, but I'm thinking of skipping it."

He raised a dark eyebrow in question and I could feel my face heat up under his scrutiny. "Is that usual for you?"

"No, that's normally what Duo does, but I just don't feel like dealing with Professor Barnes this morning," I said as I let the both of us into my room. "Besides, I have some questions about…you know, and I don't think I could sit through one of his boring lectures. I'll get some notes from one of my classmates."

He was silent, but I could feel his eyes heavily on my back as I rummaged through my closet for clothes that wouldn't scream that I was a business major. Luckily, I found a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt that I had purchased last winter break. I hastily pulled those on, deciding to forego underwear because that would mean asking Heero to move away from my dresser. When I was nearly dressed, I turned back around to face my reluctant company. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, but it's not really necessary," he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket.

"Well, I'm hungry, and I think my sister told me that eating in front of others was bad manners. So, I'm getting breakfast for us both, and you're going to just enjoy the fact that you don't have to pay for it."

He flashed me a sexy smile and headed towards the door. "It's your dime, rich boy."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ~~~~ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Heero was relatively easy company to keep. Since he was a shifter and his brain pattern was different, all I could get from his brainwaves was a sort of low, static-y hum. After a lifetime of tuning into to multiple channels at once, even with Sharona—and later Duo or Wufei— casting the dampening spell, it was a relief. Not only that, but he didn't feel compelled to fill the silence between us with rambling the way that Duo and Iria did. He reminded me of Wufei with his calm exterior. However, I could tell that his thoughts were all over the place. His hum was wild. That's the best way I can describe it to anyone.

We walked down to a diner that was a few blocks down Broadway. Heero picked a table that was easily defendable. Even with my lax training, I could tell that when he entered a room, he was watching the exits and the occupants for danger. I waited until we were sitting down before I questioned him. "So, what do you do when you're not working security at the…club?" I figured that the less that I mentioned the vampire bar while we were away from it, the better.

"Sometimes I work as a bodyguard," Heero answered nonchalantly as he looked over the menu in front of him. "Are you Muslim?"

I blinked at the random question. "My father is, but I never declared myself for Islam when I turned twelve. My mother's parents are pretty against that, and since WEI is _their_ business, Father never pressed me to do so."

"Interesting," he said, actually sounding as if it was. If he was lying, I couldn't tell. It was a bit of a relief, oddly enough. "So, I'm not going to offend you if I order sausage and bacon?"

I bit back a chuckle. "No, not really, but it's nice to see someone that asks before they do it. I'm used to Duo and Wufei, who just order whatever they want and only remember the whole pork thing when they're eating it in front of me."

"That would make ordering a pizza really odd," he said, frowning.

"I don't know. I normally just get a vegetarian pizza and let the others get whatever they want."

"Your friend Duo strikes me as the kind of guy that could eat anything you set before him, whether edible or not."

"You're not too far off." Our easy conversation was interrupted by the waitress taking our order, but when she left, I decided to steer it towards what I wanted to know. "I can tell you're a shifter." I made sure that my voice was still low. I know that New Yorkers are notorious for minding their own business, but I didn't think that either of us wanted what we were going to discuss reach the ears of our fellow patrons, Great Revelations or no. "What I'm curious to know is what shape you take on the full moon."

"I'm a were-panther. My mother's from this little place out in Louisiana, but my dad was in the Air Force. He was stationed out at Bossier City when a Werewolf from nearby Shreveport told him about the community of were-panthers in Hotshot."

"I've never heard of that town."

"You wouldn't have. Hotshot's one of those places that you drive through as fast as you can while in the country. Nearly everyone there is a shifter or related to a shifter, and they're the most secretive bunch of people you'll ever meet." He looked up and I followed his line of sight to see our waitress headed our way. We were both quiet until she'd left and then Heero started his story back up again. "Well, Dad met my mom through a mutual acquaintance in the shifter community. He petitioned to marry her and they never looked back. We ended up in New Jersey and that's where I grew up. As for how I ended up as a bodyguard, well, most shifters end up in blue collar jobs. It's easier to hide our superhuman strength and stamina that way. Although, you _do_ get a few that go and become lawyers and doctors, but they usually end up with a large number of supes in their clientele."

"I guess that would make it easier for those moments like pack fights and stuff, right?" I was rewarded by a bright, nearly innocent smile from my breakfast companion.

"Yeah, it does. The Manhattan Werewolf pack has a doctor, and she sees all the supes in the area. Just hope that you don't have to go see her because her bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired." He grimaced and then turned his attention to his plate.

While he devoured more parts of a pig than I cared to think about, I tried to process what he'd told me. Evidently, Duo's little _trip_ the night before opened up more doors than he really knew and we were going to be sucked into a world that I would have been happier to ignore the existence of. "Okay, so, the bouncer at the club, what's he?"

"Which bouncer?"

"Tall, brown hair with an emo fringe, his visible eye was green, and he had a pretty decent sense of humour."

"You must be talking about Trowa. He's a Werewolf, and he's part of the Manhattan pack. Actually, I think their name for the pack is the Greyfur pack, but only wolves give a crap about that kind of stuff."

"There's a whole hierarchy to the Werewolves that normal humans don't know, isn't there?"

"Yeah, but nobody has the corner on stupid bullshit like the vamps," he said nastily.

"What do you mean?" If I was going to had to deal with the vampires—and it wasn't like I had a choice, now did I?—I needed to know what I was up against.

"Vamps," he shook his head as he made a face like something tasted bad, "they have the entire North American continent separated into their own little world. All you need to know to keep yourself and your little witch friends safe and sound is that Dermail is the head vampire around the entire five boroughs. Nothing happens without his say-so. Dorothy and Treize are his children and his greatest enforcers."

"I thought they were his grandchildren?" I could have sworn that Treize had referred to the older vampire as "Grandfather."

"From what I've heard, back when they were alive, Dermail _was_ their grandfather. When he was turned, he came back to his family, turned those two and then they slaughtered the rest."

"Do you have any advice for me then? What can I do to help my family and keep Dermail and his vampires away from them?"

Heero leaned across the table, his face stony and his voice cold and efficient. "Whatever they tell you to do, do it, and they'll try to make you happy. Fuck up, and you and everyone you love is dead. It's as simple as that."

TBC


End file.
